


learning to fly

by aurora_chiroptera



Category: Leverage
Genre: (in Eliot thinking of his past), Coming Out, Gender Identity, Implied/Referenced Transphobia, Nonbinary Parker (Leverage), Other, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Trans Eliot Spencer (Leverage), for the ot3, kinda??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25557073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurora_chiroptera/pseuds/aurora_chiroptera
Summary: Eliot figures out why it is important that "Alice" is different from Parker.
Relationships: Alec Hardison & Parker & Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison/Parker, Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 9
Kudos: 139





	learning to fly

**Author's Note:**

> This is both a fic and a "here are my gender headcanons for these characters". I've had this in my drafts for a while and wanted to finally share it!

Parker said, "Alice is going to find a new book club." And as Hardison sighed, sudden understanding clicked for Eliot.

"Parker, you're Alice." Hardison tried to explain, voice as patient and kind as ever. Eliot knew why he did because they all wanted Parker to know it was she, herself, who was making friends, not her secret identity.

But he had a suspicion that wasn't why Parker said what she said and it finally clicked for Eliot as to why. "No she isn't," Eliot said, studying Parker. "Because Alice is a girl and Parker is not."

Parker nodded, a wide smile spreading over her face. "Eliot gets it!" She bounded over and Eliot found his arms full of excited Parker.

"Easy darlin'," he murmured, as he made sure his arms were securely around her. "You good with she and her?"

He could feel Parker's shrug before she leaned back to look down at him. "Those pronouns work fine for me. But I'm not a girl, and I'm not a boy. I'm just Parker."

"You certainly are," Eliot couldn't stop his smile.

"Oh," Hardison's voice brought Eliot and Parker's attention back to him. "I'm sorry Parker, I should have-"

"I would have told you if you hurt me," Parker said simply. "You were just confused."

"Why does Alice want to have a book club and not Parker?" Eliot asked, letting Parker down.

Parker shrugged. "Alice wants to read some bestseller books. I think they're boring."

"But that popular knowledge is good to know about for some of the grifting we do," Hardison said, following Parker’s logic easily now. "Let me know if you want me to set you up with some audiobooks. I can get you the entire Audible library, easy."

"I like to be able to hear if someone is coming up behind me," Parker said and took off her simple black shirt. Eliot and Hardison looked away.

"We could have it playing when we work out?" Eliot suggested because he understood the distrust of what could be muffled by headphones well.

Parker hopped up on the desk, now wearing a pink button-up with some ruffles along the sleeves. "That's a great idea! Though I do like Alec's workout mixes."

"Why thank you, I put a lot of work into those," Hardison smiled. "But we could use the same speakers to play other things."

Parker smiled back, leaning in to give Hardison a kiss on the cheek. Eliot glanced away, trying to ignore the jealousy that curled in his gut. It was an ugly feeling that he did not want to feel around his friends, especially when it was clear how happy their relationship made each other. But when Eliot had started falling for them both sometime in the years working together, it was hard to lock that feeling away completely.

"Alright, Alice is off!" Parker hopped down from the table. "Let's review some of the cases that have come in tomorrow in the morning."

"Sounds good," Hardison smiled as he called after her.

"Need a ride to your book club?" Eliot asked, knowing he didn't have an excuse to linger around their apartment but also still wanting to spend time around at least one of them. It made him feel at his best, knowing that they were safe. He would keep an eye on them, as much as he could. That at least he could provide.

"Yes please!" Parker said, and he followed her.

"Night Hardison," he called over his shoulder.

"You too man, you too," Hardison smiled again and seemed to be working already on whatever his current computer project was. Hopefully, it wouldn't end up messing with the pub menu.

Parker took Eliot’s elbow, though she didn't say anything as they headed behind the brewpub and got into Eliot's truck. As she flitted around to the passenger side, climbing in and settling, Eliot could tell she was thinking about something. He enjoyed sharing silence with Parker as much as he enjoyed sharing a conversation.

What she ended up saying was just. "You understand."

"Yeah."

Parker turned towards him, twisting around in the seat, though she had made sure to buckle up at least. "More than just understanding. It's more personal." Her head cocked to one side, studying him as if he was the lock on a safe. He was far too used to that look.

"I used to be afraid of being found out," Eliot murmured. "But no one knows my past anymore. I have tried my best to ensure that."

"But you're safe now, you're happy," Parker said. Eliot could pick up the question that still hovered in her voice.

"Yes," Eliot responded, turning the key and starting the truck. "And that getting comfortable can do dangerous things. Like wanting people to know you, even the parts you hide."

He saw Parker nod out of the corner of his eye, as he focused on the road. "It makes it harder to run. We don't leave when the job is done anymore."

Eliot let out a breath in a rush. "Yeah."

"You won't leave us?"

"No." Now Eliot almost snapped. "I already promised I wouldn't."

"Good," Parker said, then she was quiet again. She leaned towards him a bit, but she didn't touch him. Eliot was grateful for that. "If you want to talk to Hardison and me, we will listen." Parker hummed thoughtfully. "Unless Hardison is playing one of those games he is really into. I don't think he listens the best then."

Eliot laughed at that. "Yeah, I think you’re right."  
“You could play the fishing game! I like that one," Parker hummed.

"Okay," Eliot said, and a silence settled back around them. "Hey, Parker?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks. Also, where am I taking you?"

Parker laughed, and Eliot held that close. It was one of her genuine laughs, and she contentedly hummed as she typed the address into his phone.

There was a lot that Eliot could say, could tell them. A long history of his, hidden with all the rest of him.

Eliot remembered destroying the dresses he was put in, running after his brother. The more he rebelled from what was proper for a girl, the more his father tried to make him conform. But the thing was his father had created a very binary world, and in a way, it helped Eliot know that he was a boy. He could hit and get dirty and play sports, fix cars, and take on bullies. He enrolled in the military right out of high school, knowing it was the fastest way to get out of his home town and into the world.

And oh, that “don't ask don't tell” kind of culture was just as bad as home. But Eliot stood out and began to get job offers and missions for commission. The slippery slope of being used to taking orders made him easy picking. Someone to shape into whatever was needed, and he let it happen.

With his first paycheck, the big kind, he vanished after the job, grit and blood in his mouth. He killed the fake self everyone thought they saw. Eliot Spencer was born from the money that he didn't want to think too hard about how he got. Dealing with the needles was easy for hormone therapy- when getting stabbed by a knife is a common part of your day to day job, needles are nothing. The hardest was getting the time to recover after he found someone to do his top surgery- his line of work couldn't allow for safe binding and he had the money now. Getting all new documents was easier than he expected, but once more money could get a whole lot of things done.

A few people who knew Eliot before, he was able to get jobs through them. It was interesting how few people asked questions. And as the years passed, fewer and fewer people remembered or even knew of Eliot's dead self, the one with the F on his ID.

He grew his hair out after years on T when his face was squarer and often rough with stubble. That was freeing, to find who he really was looking back at him. He felt the same way when he finally worked in a kitchen. He learned to respect and create, and how that felt even more powerful than destroying. The only thing he was breaking was the binary thinking of his father.

He had thought many times about how he would explain all that to Hardison and to Parker.

It ended up being surprisingly easy, all tumbling out once he started. Parker was perched on the couch behind them, legs crossed so that her knees pushed into their backs. It should have been uncomfortable, but Eliot found it was grounding.

Hardison just smiled that easy smile of his. "Thanks for trusting us, man."

Parker hummed, leaning forward to grab Eliot's controller. "You should stay for dinner."

Eliot laughed at that. "You just want me to cook for you."

"Maybe," Parker said. "Is it working?"

"Not your smoothest con, babe." Hardison flicked away from the fishing simulator to Mario Kart.

"We don't con each other," Parker pointed out.

"Don't con your family," Eliot said, pushing himself off the couch and moving towards the kitchen. He had stocked it with some of the items that came in for the pub. It was the easiest way to sneak in food to make sure they were eating right. Which wasn't a con either, because they all knew what he was doing.

Because they were family and they looked out for each other.


End file.
